


Equivalant Exchange (The Bottled Genius Remix)

by Cathalinaheart



Category: Marvel 616
Genre: Alternate Universe - Genie/Djinn, Fire, Getting Together, M/M, Secrets, Wishes, careful what you wish for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:21:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22650097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cathalinaheart/pseuds/Cathalinaheart
Summary: A new master changes everything for Tony.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52
Collections: 2020 Captain America/Iron Man Remix Exchange





	Equivalant Exchange (The Bottled Genius Remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Neverever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Genius in a Bottle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4875820) by [Neverever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever). 



> Thank you to starksnack for looking this over and thank you to rowan, mug, iron, cake and addy for helping me find a title.

Tony felt the telltale shaking of his lamp, signaling that another idiotic human had decided to try his luck with a genie.

He sighed and put his tools down. They never learn what a dangerous game it can be. Especially with Tony involved. There is more to fear than just imprecise wishes.

Humans have certain expectations, so Tony turned into a cloud of blue mist and reappeared in front of a blond man in his best dramatic fashion. He’s had centuries to perfect his performance after all.

“Uh, hello?” The man said, staring at Tony uncomprehendingly.

He tried hard not to roll his eyes.  _ Great, another one of those idiots that got my lamp by chance. Let’s hope I can wheedle all three wishes out him fast and be done with it. _

“I am Tony. Your three wishes are my command, Master.”  _ And then I get to take my lifeforce back, _ Tony added silently.

“Hi. Uhm, I’m Steve,” the blond man introduced himself.

Tony looked Steve up and down. Young, healthy, strong. Tony should be getting more lifeforce back then the three wishes would take. He thought it only fair. Every wish he granted burned away some of his lifeforce. And fulfilling the wishes was a compulsion Tony hadn’t yet mastered to circumvent. But he had managed to devise a way to get it back. Take it from those that were stealing it in the first place. Humanity was cruel and selfish, he wasn’t bothered that the lifeforce retrieval would cost his former master’s life. 

“What’s your first wish?” Tony asked. He would like to get back to his clockwork devices sooner rather than later.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting a, you know…” Steve gestured vaguely at Tony.

“A genie, darling. Surely you must have known that. You rubbed my lamp after all.”

“I sell used wares, the lamp was in a chest someone had dropped off. I was polishing it so I could sell it on the market tomorrow. I had no idea what it was.”

Huh, that was a first. Tony had never met a human that didn’t know what it was they were holding in their hand. Some hadn’t expected it to work, sure, but they had still hoped.

“So, about that wish?” Tony asked.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea. I guess I need to think about it?”

What? Tony was confused. Was there really a human in front of him that didn’t immediately utter a wish? Maybe he knew he had to word it very carefully and just wanted to take his time? That was a smart approach, Tony had to admit.

“Alright.” Tony finally said. He hoped Steve figured out his wishes fast.

“Do you have somewhere to stay?” Steve asked concerned.

Tony looked at the lamp between. “I can’t leave before you make your three wishes.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. You can stay here. The ground isn’t too bad, so you can take my bed.” Steve said.

Tony was staring at him wide-eyed. Was that human for real?

“Do you want to have something for dinner?”

Steve had to be the most considerate human he had ever met. It was freaking Tony slightly out. Surely, that meant that Steve was up to something. No human was just good without expecting something in return.

* * *

“That’s a terrible way to run your business,” Tony remarked after watching Steve all morning at the market.

The man kept giving stuff out for way under value and paid more money than things were worth when someone wanted to sell him something. Though interestingly two people had been the exception to it. Both had been meticulously dressed. Obviously wealthy.

“I get by,” Steve replied. “Besides, we help each other out. I can afford to help out people now.”

Maybe there was hope for humanity after all.

* * *

Here’s the thing. Talking to Steve was easy. And nice. Tony was sure that Steve might have been a bit lonely before. And while he refused to admit such a thing, maybe Tony had been too.

So it was only natural that Tony ended up telling Steve about his clockwork toys.

“They sound so amazing, Tony,” Steve said. “Can I see them? Please?”

Tony hesitated. He had never shown them to someone else. They were special. They were his. But Steve was also special.

Slowly Tony nodded and held out his hand to Steve. Steve put his hand into Tony’s without hesitation. The trust that showed took Tony’s breath away for a second. As soon as he could feel oxygen fill his lugs again he dematerialized both of them and brought them into his lamp.

Steve looked a little dazed.

“Did you just... Are we…”

“Inside my lamp?” Tony finished for him. “Yes, we are.”

Steve’s eyes widened and he turned to take everything in.

Tony wondered what it must be like to see this with fresh eyes. There were shelves upon shelves filled with his creations, gleaming metal, and warm wood.

When Steve’s eyes slid over to the large fire that was burning bright, Tony had to suppress a wince. It was the physical embodiment of his magic, his lifeforce. It reminded him of Steve’s inevitable fate.

“Do you forge in here?” Steve asked.

Of course, that is what Steve would think. He didn’t have any reason to believe something else. And it’s not like it wasn’t true. Tony did use the fire for forging.

“Yes,” Tony replied and quickly shoved the guilty feeling down.

“Here let me show you the music box that I made.”

* * *

Living with Steve was easy. Frighteningly so. They fell into a comfortable routine that allowed Tony to forget about the true nature of their situation until reality brutally caught up with him.

They were walking home from the market when it happened.

One moment they were happily engaged in a conversation about the correct polishing of metals, and in the next someone was screaming “Fire!” and Steve took off without a second thought. Tony quickly followed him.

The bakery was up in flames. Hungrily the flames licked along the wooden structure. The houses were built close together, it wouldn’t take long for the fire to spread, to engulf most of the city.

The baker and his wife came stumbling out of the inferno. The woman was crying. Tony couldn’t understand everything she was saying but it sounded like their son was trapped on the second floor?

Steve, who had been on his way to join the water queue stopped and gave the burning house an accessing look.

Oh no. He wouldn’t. Right? Steve could not be that stupid.

But apparently he was. It was only thanks to Tony’s supernatural reflexes that he managed to stop Steve from running into the flames.

“Let me go!” Steve screamed.

Tony tightened his grip. “You’re too late. There is no way you could make it out. You can’t save him.”

Steve turned to face Tony, tears glistening in his eyes. He tilted his head.

“But you can!” Steve exclaimed. “I can make a wish to save him.”

Tony’s throat closed, but he nodded slowly. There was no way to convince Steve not to use one of his wishes right now.

“I wish the fire would stop and John can leave the house safely.”

Tony closed his eyes as he felt the magic flooding through him, he fought with his instincts to cause as much chaos as possible and instead focused it on doing as much good as possible.

The could feel the heat of the flames receding and then the sky opened up for a massive downpour, extinguishing the rest of the flames.

When he opened his eyes again Steve was gone. It didn’t take long for him to return with the boy, handing him over to the crying parents.

Tony felt his heart clench in his chest and he realized he was in love with this stupidly heroic human.

Steve looked at Tony in a way that Ton couldn’t quite place. Was he angry that Tony hadn’t done anything on his own? He couldn’t have. His magic could only interfere with human lives if there was a wish. Did Steve think Tony should have suggested he make a wish? If it had happened on the first day he would have, but now he had pushed the thoughts of Steve’s wishes so far down it hadn’t even occurred to him. Or maybe Steve was trying to figure out how he could use his last two wishes to cause the maximum amount of good. And that was a dangerous path Tony couldn’t let Steve take.

* * *

Tony knew he had to confess to Steve now. There was no way he could put that off. But he was also selfish. He didn’t know how Steve would react and he wanted one last, good memory. And if he was about to potentially ruin everything anyway he could also confess his feelings first. Tony had never been one to do things by half and if he was going to get his heart broken, better do it once and completely.

So after both men had finished eating their dinner, Tony offered his hand to Steve, who took it readily. Instead of taking them inside his lamp as Steve probably expected he whisked them off into the pocket dimension he had created. Steve had mentioned that he had never seen the ocean so Tony had created a beach at sunset.

A blanket was lying on the sand and on top of it a plate full of Tony’s favorite sweets.

“Wow. This is beautiful. Did you do this all for me?” Steve breathed out.

“Yes,” Tony agreed staring mesmerized into Steve’s eyes. He swallowed. “I love you.”

Steve’s eyes widened and for a second Tony wished he could take his words back, but then Steve’s lips found his own and the world narrowed down to just the touch of their lips.

“I love you, too,” Steve whispered when he withdrew, his forehead resting against Tony’s.

They sat down and Tony enjoyed feeding Steve the sweets.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Steve said eventually.

“Sure, go ahead.”

“I don’t want to use you and your magic, but after what happened...We could do so much good together.”

So this was it then. Tony took a deep breath.

“No matter how much good you could do through me, I can’t let you do it. It isn’t worth your life.”

“My life?” Steve looked confused.

Tony sighed. “There is something I have to confess. Please listen to all of it?”

Slowly Steve nodded.

“You might not know this, but every time I use my magic to fulfill a wish it takes some of my lifeforce. We genies live long enough that it might not matter to humans, but every wish we fulfill shortens our life.”

Steve looked shocked.

“And it felt unfair to me, you know? Having to give up a part of my life just to fulfill the wishes of these greedy and cruel humans. I was tired of it. There is no way to stop this from happening, though. But I found a way to get my lifeforce back. From them.”

Tony refused to meet Steve’s eyes as he continued. “After someone makes all three wishes, their lifeforce flows into me, replenishing what they took. They die. I kill them. And it’s not something I can stop. I can’t reverse the spell.”

“Oh, Tony.” Steve enveloped him in a hug. That was not the reaction that Tony had expected.

“Do you see, Steve? I can’t let you make your three wishes. I can’t be the one that kills you.” Tony pleads into Steve’s neck, his eyes stinging with tears.

“Hey, it’s alright. Let’s get home, okay?”

It was so easy to feel safe in Steve’s arms, even though Tony was objectively more powerful. Reluctantly Tony let the beach fade away and brought them back to Steve’s apartment.

* * *

“What about making a, you know, to free you from the spell?” Steve suggested the next morning.

“It doesn’t work,” Tony replied.

“Mmh.” Steve made a thoughtful noise. “Oh! What if you weren’t a genie anymore? Then the lifeforce transference wouldn’t be necessary anymore, right?”

“That... would probably work actually. You’d need to wish for me to become a human. Though without my magic I don’t really have anything.”

“I’d take care of you and you could build things! You are good at that!”

“Yes,” Tony replied.

“So I can make that wish?”

Tony nodded and leaned forward for a quick peck. Steve pulled him closer and deepened the kiss, before reluctantly separating.

“I wish you were a human,” Steve said.

Tony braced himself because he had a pretty good idea what was going to happen, but it would be worth it for Steve. Accidentally making a wish was too easy. Everything was worth it for Steve.

The magic enveloped him, but it felt different from every time before. It was completely draining him. A glance at his hand confirmed it. Without the magic in his body, the human form was quickly catching up to his actual age.

“What...?” Steve looked shocked at Tony.

“I’m sorry, Steve. This was the only way,” Tony rasped, ignoring his rapidly aging body.

Steve’s eyes bored into his in disbelief.

“No!” Steve’s voice was full of desperation as he hugged Tony close.

But Tony could already feel his body breaking down.

“There is no way you would have never used your third wish,” he whispered in Steve’s ear. “I love you.”

The last thing Tony felt is the wetness of Steve’s tears.


End file.
